DBKL to sell Plaza Rakyat to Profit Consortium for RM740 mil, says Tengku Adnan

KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 29): The Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) will sell the land on which the Plaza Rakyat project was located to Profit Consortium Sdn Bhd for a consideration of RM740 million, said Federal Territories Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor.

He said that DBKL will sign the sale and purchase agreement (SPA) with Profit Consortium tomorrow when asked at the Parliament lobby today.

Profit Consortium is a privately held company linked to Major (R) Anuar Adam who controls Tadmax Corp Bhd.

Earlier, he told the Dewan Rakyat: "The selling price [of Plaza Rakyat] is RM740 million, of which RM700 million is the outright sale of the land and RM40 million is for them to resolve the issue with the 211 buyers."

He said that he has put a term in the SPA that the developer will resolve the issues with the 211 buyers.

"Actually, the 211 buyers did not have rights, because they purchased the property with Plaza Rakyat Sdn Bhd, which has gone bankrupt. However, we are a government that is concerned about its people and I decided that RM40 million to be allocated to resolve their problem," Tengku Adnan added.

He also said that the selection of a developer was carried out in a closed tender manner.

"We have carried out a closed tender process, and three companies bid for the project. A selection process was carried out, and the highest bid was chosen," he added.

Tengku Adnan said this in reply to Bukit Bintang MP Fong Kui Lun during the oral question session today.

Fong has asked the minister to state the reason DBKL still failed to revive the well-known abandoned project namely Plaza Rakyat until now and whether there is still hope that the project will be revived in the near future.

In response to this, Tengku Adnan said the Plaza Rakyat project has been abandoned since 1997 due to the financial crisis and financial problems faced by developer Plaza Rakyat Sdn Bhd.

The Kuala Lumpur Mayor has begun talks with a few parties during that period and undergone a long legal process to resolve the issue of Plaza Rakyat.

The site of Plaza Rakyat has been handed over to the City Hall in Nov 6, 2014 after the legal process.

Subsequently, a tender process was carried out to look for a suitable developer to revive the project. -- theedgemarkets.com